Looking For Angels
by Drifter of the Forgotten Ones
Summary: Angels walk among us...." That used to be my Grandpa's favorite saying. I never fully understood what it meant until I started experiencing a change in myself...Something that changed my opinion on that one phrase forever...
1. Chapter 1

My Grandpa had always said that Angels had walked among men ever since the earth was created….It took me until recently to actually start believing him. Oh yeah, you don't know what happened yet, do you? Well you might as well sit back and listen because this is something that takes a lot to believe…

…………..

It was a couple of weeks ago, on my last birthday when it all started. It was Saturday and I and a couple of my friends were at my house having a party with a few of my family members over. It was all going perfect, we had an awesome cake, some awesome food, and my friends and I played an awesome tournament of Guitar Hero, with me coming out on top of course. After a while though, my friends and family had to start getting on home.

I was showing my last friend to the door, with only my parents, brother, and grandparents left when my Grandpa walked up right after my friend had left.

"Something wrong?" I asked, wondering what he was up to.

"Just wanted to give you your last present," he smiled as he pulled out a small wrapped box about the size of my hand, but only a little bigger.

"Last present?" I asked confused, as I thought I had already opened all of the gifts that I'd been given earlier. When I had finished ripping off the wrapping paper, I found out that it was a silver box with an outline of a brown feather on it.

"Go on, open it," My grandfather said as I lifted the lid of the box off.

Inside of the box was a silver necklace with a white feather charm in the middle of it. A small card beside the necklace said '_Necklace of the Winged.'_

"Whoa…." I said, stunned as I took out the necklace from the box. "Awesome!" I said as I put it on over my head and pulled it down until it was around my neck. "Where'd you get this?" I asked, curiously.

"It was a gift from my Grandpa," He grinned before muttering something along the lines of, "It has been passed on." After that, he said that he had to go and I showed him to the door. It'd be a while before I actually learned what he had meant by that statement.

……………..

A few days later, my grandpa had died of a sudden heart attack. At his funeral I wore his, or should I say my, necklace and ever since then I'd worn it to remember him. As his casket was hoisted into his new grave, I looked up at a tree and for a second, I thought I saw Grandpa standing there, dressed in a white cloak. Before I could react any more, he was gone.

That memory stayed fresh in my mind throughout the next week. That is until my friends and I went up to a place we called 'Ghost Pass' because of all the stories of ghosts and haunting that had taken place there over the years. Of course, being oblivious to fear and danger, we decided to spend the night in the 'Ghost Pass' cave…..Boy were we stupid for going there.

……………..

It was around ten at night when we had arrived at the cave, and with it being a full moon, we had enough light not to waste any batteries by using our flashlights on our walk there.

"Think the others will be here soon?" My friend Josh had asked me, once we were waiting for the rest of our 'search party' to arrive.

"They'll be here," I told him, just as our four other friends arrived, with Zak taking up the lead.

"It's about time," Josh said to them once they were in earshot of us.

"Not our fault we had to take a wrong turn," Austin said as he looked at Taylor.

"I said I was sorry!" Taylor said, as she stared at Austin in mock anger.

Shana chuckled as she looked on at them. "C'mon, let's just go."

"Yeah, we're wasting moonlight," Zak agreed.

"Then let's go!" Josh said, starting to head into the cave, using his flashlight to see, with the others following behind him.

I started to follow, before I heard a rustle of a bush near us. I turned to face it, as I saw a pair of red eyes staring between the leaves back at me. My heart beat rocketed as the eyes stared for a few more seconds before blinking into nothingness.

"You coming?" Zak called back as I gulped and jogged to catch up with them.

The inside of the cave was just as you would imagine it at night: dark. Even with our flashlights we couldn't see everything at once in there. We continued walking until we came up to a tri-fork in the cave, with three different paths appearing almost out of nowhere.

"Looks like this is where we split up," Shana said as she shined her light down each of the three paths.

"Alright, whose going with whom first of all," Austin said.

"Let's see here…." Josh said, smirking. "I'll guess who is going with whom. Shana will be with Zak, while Austin will be with Taylor, if they even make it past the first few feet if they do make-out."

As soon as Josh was done saying his prediction, everyone except Austin and Taylor (which they were both blushing madly by now), were cracking up laughing.

"Shut up and decide your tunnel," Austin growled once the laughter had died down.

I started looking down the tunnels, considering which one would be the best one. All of a sudden, I heard a faint whisper from down the left tunnel. I froze as I struggled to understand what it was saying.

"Something up Ike?" Josh asked, although I barely heard him.

I shined my flashlight down the tunnel as I started running down it, full speed. "Josh, go with someone else! I'll be fine on my own!" I yelled, not bothering to slow down as my voice echoed back to them as I heard them yell back, but barely.

After a few minutes, I stopped, not only to catch my breath, but also to look around at my surroundings. So far, there was nothing special about the room I was in. Just a few rocks, some bones, some stic-wait, bones! My heart beat increased again as I raced over to look at the bones. They were animal bones, I knew because we had studied them a while ago in science class. There was one thing about the bones that set my hair on edge….They were still fresh.

I set the bones down as I stood up again, surveying the way I had came and the path that lied ahead. Another inaudible passed by my ears as I gulped and headed towards the route I had yet to take.

About five minutes later and I found myself in a large cavern. I flared my flashlight around the room, feeling my heart in my throat as it beat rapidly. I was just scanning the room as my flashlight passed over an animal….A big furry animal.

My eyes widened as I started backing up, trying to be as silent as the ninjas in movies. But, as I learned, I'm not a ninja because I stepped on a stick, which cracked and echoed throughout the cavern, and to my misfortune, waking up the beast.

The beast stood up, shaking its huge pitch black pelt as it opened its red eyes and glared at me. Suddenly, it grinned menacingly as it bared its huge fangs and walked toward me, on all fours like a wolf.

"Well well well, what sort of rare meal as this stumbled upon my nest?" It spoke darkly.

My blood froze. A talking wolf?! "I'm only a h-human," I said slowly.

"Teh, like I believe that," The wolf said. "Say what you truly are."

"What're you talking about?" I asked, confused.

"I've never met someone like you that'd lie about what they really are," The wolf grinned, mischievously.

"Ok then, seeing as you're so smart; tell me what the heck I am?" I asked, not wanting to get angry with this huge talking wolf that'd probably kill me with a single bite.

"You really don't know do you?" The wolf laughed. "You're an Angel."

I froze. "What….?"

"Angel, you know, things with wings that 'help' people," The wolf sneered, saying 'help' as if it was poison. "How pathetic, well at least you'll provide a good snack for me."

"S-snack?" I asked shaking slightly I guess as the flashlight light started moving and shaking.

"Yes!" The wolf howled as he lunged at me.

I don't know how I did it, but somehow I was able to sidestep the lunge and start running the way I came, with big dark and hairy breathing down my neck behind me. I remembered the way I had come as I ran back, adrenaline fueling me along as I ran. As I reached where we had to choose paths, I was lucky to have the others just coming out of their tunnels.

Before they could say anything I yelled "Run!" and without protest, they broke into a run towards the entrance. I glanced behind me to see the wolf still behind me as we ran. Finally, after seeming to have taken forever, we ran out of the entrance, my friends stopping after a few feet out of the tunnel to catch their breaths.

I ran out and turned to face the wolf once more….but nothing came. The sun slowly rose behind me as I looked into the shadows.

"What….was…with…the…howling?" Zak asked between breaths.

I stared into the shadows to see the red eyes of the wolf staring back slightly. **"You got lucky Angel….next time you won't be…"** it laughed before its eyes faded into the darkness.

"I'm not sure…" I said, still shaken up before reaching up and touching the necklace around my neck. "But I've got to ask some questions about my Grandpa…"


	2. Chapter 2

The next day I was determined to start finding some answers about Grandpa that I desperately needed. And there was only one person that I knew of that could give me some answers: Grandma. Grandpa and her had been married for what, fifty-some years? She definitely should have the answers I want.

As soon as I ate breakfast and made sure I had my drawing of the demon dog from the other night, I sped off on my bike to Grandma and Grandp-err...Grandma's house. After a while I arrived at her house, getting more and more anxious with every passing moment. I rang the doorbell, trying to hold in my anxiousness, even while Grandma opened the door and led me to the house's living room.

Once we had sat down, she asked, "So Ike, what brings you over here today?"

"I came to find out some more about Grandpa," I said.

"What do you want to know about him?"

"Was there anything…unusual about him?" I asked, not wanting to come right out and plainly ask yet.

Grandma chuckled, "Well he had a great sense of humor and loved to help people."

"No, was there anything that set him about from others?"

"Not really. Ike, what's with your sudden interest in your grandfather?"

I sighed, reaching into my pocket to take out my impression of the demon of Ghost's Pass. "Grandma…The other day I and a couple of my friends visited a place called Ghost's Pass that's known to be haunted. And while I was there I had an experience…"

"What do you mean Ike?" She almost sounded nervous while asking.

"I encountered a wolf-like demon…" I said slowly as I passed the picture I had drawn to her. AS she studied the picture, her eyes widened in what looked like fear. "And there was something it said to…It called me…an Angel…"

Grandmas didn't look at me as she stood up and walked into another room in the house. After a couple of minutes, she returned with a dark green jewelry box with a golden feather design on the top of it. "Ezekiel Porter," she said as I gulped. The only time anyone was allowed to use my real name was when something extremely important was to be shown or said to me. "What I am about to show you can only be told to a select group of people, understood?"

I gulped and nodded. This was what I had come to find out about, I could feel it…

Grandma nodded and passed me the box, wanting me to open it myself. I nodded once more before carefully removing the lid of the box:

Inside the box were a few feathers, a small stone cross with a blue gem inside it, and a few drawings of what looked to me like demons.

"Your grandfather, Max, was unique," Grandma said. "And I'm sure you've already figured out what he was; an Angel." She stopped, probably waiting for this to sink into me. "And what that hellhound said was right; you've taking your grandfather's place as an Angel."

"So it is true…" I mumbled, examining one of the brown feathers that had speckled white dots on them.

"Yes," Grandma started again. "It is also customary for the Angel being replaced to leave behind a few feathers to increase the wing growth speed of their replacement."

"Wing growth?" I asked, alarmed.

"Yes…" She said. "The feathers will dramatically speed up your wing growth…But you shouldn't worry about that yet…You still need to worry about your power."

"My what?" I asked, feeling more and more confused by the second.

Grandma nodded, taking the stone cross out of the box and into my hand. "Focus on the gem of the cross."

I nodded dumbly, before staring the gem down some. After what seemed like forever, the blue gem turned silver, just as I started feeling a weird sensation in my free hand. I opened it up, just as something appeared in it: a silver sphere. I mean, it didn't have any hieroglyphs on it, or any notes of any kind. It was just that: a silver sphere.

"And here I was thinking I would get fire abilities..." I sighed, disappointed. The sphere must've heard my wish, for after I said that, it glowed and was absorbed into my skin. Before I could react further, a small fire appeared in my hand. But this fire was different from other fires; mainly because it was silver. Yeas, a silver fire, weird huh? But anyways, I panicked and closed my hand quickly, extinguishing the flame. But soon my curiosity got the better of me and I figured out how to call upon the flames quickly. I looked at Grandma, who just smiled.

"Good, but I'd feel safer if you had a weapon to defend yourself with," she said.

Before I could respond, the flame in my hand started morphing around and taking a form. Soon it was solid: a small hunting knife was in my hand.

"And I'd feel way safer with a sword," I grinned as the knife glowed and slowly shifted into a katana. "Awesome!" I said as I examined the blade.

"Looks like Max was right," Grandma murmurs before looking at me. "Your grandfather wanted you to start training as soon as you gained your powers."

"Ok," I said as I started to get up to go, thanking Grandma for the information as I left and headed back home.

…

Over the next few days, which unfortunately were ones full of school, I started working more and more on my powers, but then Wednesday hit, and things got pretty bad.

…

That day had started off like any other; I woke up, did my morning routine, and rode to school on my bike. But that's when I ran into 'Her.' That's right, Her, one of the, scratch that, the only person I hate as much as she hates me.

Her name's Akane Iyanna, and she's had a rough life, with her cheating mom and her abusive cheating lover that 'took advantage' of Akane. So you think that'd get people to be kind to her right? Wrong. Truthfully she had pissed off every person I our entire school. Everyone knows when to ignore her brown hair and eyes, along with her figure.

And of course I just have to run into her on this very morning. While I was waiting for the light at the intersection to change, she rides up on her bike. Just perfect.

As I turn to look at her for a second, she growls, "What're you looking at baka?"

"Nothing," I said. "What're you doing here?"

"Stalking you," she said sarcastically while rolling her eyes. "Going to school, what else?"

I glared "Whatever." And that was the end of that. We rode the rest of the way to school in silence. I soon found my friends and forgot about her til later…

….

As soon as the bell rang, I told my friends I had to run errands for my parents, and sped off on my bike towards our town's largest forest. I'd been heading into the middle of there for the past few days now to work on my powers, which were coming along quite nicely.

After a couple of hours of non-stop work on my abilities, I looked up to see the sun starting to set in the sky. All that time I had been working on mastering my abilities and I didn't even pay attention to the time! I grabbed my stuff and hopped on my bike, speeding towards my house.

Suddenly, a buzzing noise hit my ears, and I stopped. It almost sounded like a swarm of bees. The buzzing soon grew louder and louder as the buzzing noises soon surrounded me. When the buzzing was at its loudest, I saw my fear surrounding me: demon wasps. I could tell they were demons because of their glowing red eyes, which were scaring the hell out of me.

I set my stuff down as I drew out some silver fire in one hand, and made a katana in the other. Though I knew how to use my powers freely at this point, the odds were greatly against me. I was weak from all the training and they had me greatly outnumbered. I bit my lip, thinking this was the end.

But I was determined to go down fighting. I raised my hand, blasting the first group of wasps with my fire before they all swarmed at me at once.

I started slashing and burning the endless swarm of wasps that were around me. But no matter how many I killed, there were always replacements for them. Soon I had no choice but to fall down, exhausted.

The swarm of wasps buzzed excitedly overhead. They buzzed to charge…before a ball of a black-like substance started chopping them down. The ball moved like water through the air, shifting shapes often to kill the demons.

When the final wasp had fallen, the owner of the sphere stepped out of the shadows, the last person I would've expected to save me: the person who hated me in return; Akane Iyanna.

As I stared at her, there were two words that crossed my mind:

_Black Angel._


End file.
